The present invention relates to mouth-to-mouth resuscitation devices and more particularly the invention relates to a resuscitation mask which prevents transfer of bodily fluids between the patient and the donor. It will be convenient to describe the invention with reference to use on an unconscious patient who has stopped breathing, however it should be noted that the invention has a wider application.
Mouth-to-mouth resuscitation is an important and valuable respiration technique to ventilate a patient who has stopped breathing or to assist a patient having difficulty breathing. However, particularly in recent times, there are a number of reasons why potential life saving donors may be hesitant to administer mouth-to-mouth resuscitation or may have their own health jeopardized if they do administer mouth-to-mouth resuscitation. First, the prospect of the patient vomiting during the procedure is discouraging. Further the risk of transfer of infection, both from donor to patient but more particularly from patient to donor is a further discouraging factor. The risk of transmission of the AIDS virus, oral herpes, hepatitis B and other serious diseases by exchange of bodily fluids during mouth-to-mouth resuscitation are factors which may influence the decision of a potential donor to refuse to treat a patient and may put the potential donor at risk when he or she has no indication of the health history of the person being resuscitated. This may be more so with emergency workers such as ambulance officers and police who are more frequently exposed to such risks.
Because of the problems outlined above, many devices have been suggested to reduce or eliminate the risk of exchange of bodily fluids during mouth-to-mouth resuscitation and to avoid the risk of transfer of infection.
The resuscitation devices presently available often suffer from one or more problems. First, many of the devices require two hand operation to effectively seal the patient's mouth and nose and hold the device in position. Secondly, many devices do not allow or encourage correct resuscitation technique of reclining the patient's head back such that the patient's airway is properly opened. Further many of the known devices do not actually keep the patient's airway open by keeping the pharynx and larynx open, the patient's teeth apart and mouth open. Many devices also do not allow connection to mechanical air supply devices.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a resuscitation device which overcomes one or more of the above problems.